Few environments are as carefully controlled as a theater.
An actor hits her mark just in time for a spotlight to bathe her face in light. Music swells and recedes in time with movement on the stage. The audience is guided by these sensory cues until the curtain drops, heavy and final, to signal the story has come to an end.
Since its inception in 2019, the Nomad Theatre Company has been experimenting with the possibilities of giving up that kind of control. The group formed with the mission of moving theater beyond the bounds of its traditional physical structure. Plays have been staged on porches, patios and inside bars. During a Nomad production, birds sing, lawnmowers roar to life, and a Toilet Timer gently nudges you from your roost.
Just kidding about the timer. None are expected to be in operation during this weekend’s performance of Nomad Theatre’s latest production, The Warehouse Plays. Although the titular warehouse is home to KATAMCO, a local business that found its own spotlight in 2020when the Toilet Timer won over the judges on ABC’s Shark Tank.
That kind of local connection is another important part of Nomad’s mission.
“We want to collaborate relationships in the community in the spaces that we’re performing in,” said Connie Blick, who co-founded Nomad with fellow theater artist Cristen Monson.
Blick said she fell in love with the KATAMCO warehouse after attending an event there and, after sending pictures to Monson, the idea for The Warehouse Plays was born.
Like all Nomad Theatre productions, The Warehouse Plays were conceived around the space in where it will be performed. Monson explains that local playwrights were introduced to both the warehouse and KATAMCO’s owner, inventor Adam Stephey, and tasked with creating a site-specific work.
“So, no one will have seen these plays before because they were imagined by these playwrights for this event,” Monson said. “It’s awesome to see new work and be surprised.”
And when it comes to the warehouse itself, Monson and Blick both agreed the KATAMCO space is imbued with a particular sense of creativity and ingenuity, making it the perfect venue to kick off Nomad’s 2024-25 production season.
Saturday’s performance [which is sold out] is doubling as a season announcement celebration during which Nomad’s upcoming productions will be revealed. The plays also will be performed during a Sunday matinee.
As for runtime, Monson and Blick are aware that brevity is a quality often lacking in the theater. The company tends to produce pieces that range from five to 20 minutes. That way, Monson explains, audiences know that even if they’re not enjoying a particular performance, another will be coming up soon.
The six performances featured in The Warehouse Plays each clock in at 10 minutes.
Which, for the record, is about two turns of the Toilet Timer.
The Warehouse Plays takes place May 4-5 at the Slugfactory [KATAMCO Warehouse], 1707 E. Hamilton Road, Bloomington. Saturday's performance is sold out. Tickets for Sunday's 2 p.m. matinee are $15 at nomadtheatre.org.
